Final Ruling On Screener Tapes

Earlier this year it got to the point where if someone mentioned the word 'screener' one more time you'd have just lamped them with the nearest blunt instrument. But the last word on the issue has now been said so you might as well find out how the story ends. You'll remember that Jack Valenti and the MPAA did eventually back down on their screener ban and then smirk in an irritatingly smug manner when they were proved right about piracy concerns and bootleg screener copies turned up on the Net. Still, rather than pick up their fallen standard and wade back into the fray, Valenti and his troops have taken the better part of valour and decided to give the whole issue a wide berth From now on the MPAA has vowed to leave the screener policy alone and allow individual distributors to sort it all out themselves. There, now how hard was that? All of this kerfuffle could have been avoided in the first place if this idea had been mooted in the first place. If a studio wishes to send out screener tapes to push its films come awards time, they can. And if they're worried about privacy and don't want to, they don't have to. A supremely elegant solution and one that should have been patently obvious from the outset. The piracy issue does remain a very real concern, however, and distributors will be looking into ways to limit the damage such theft causes, likely involving a similar watermark system to that placed on Academy screeners this year.